Chiropractic students breaking down barriers to health care
By Greg Chapman
CQUniversity’s Chiropractic students and staff are giving back to the Brisbane region’s marginalised communities by running mobile clinics for various local organisations.
For the past three years, CQU’s health clinics have established four recurring mobile clinics, not only providing much needed allied health services to these organisations, but also giving chiropractic interns the opportunity to enhance their clinical experience.
CQU Health Clinics Director Helen Bourne said the mobile clinics have helped members of the Queensland Amputee Association in Logan, an aged care facility in Mitchelton, an Ashram in Springfield Lakes and Logan’s First Nations elders.
“The program has been a resounding success for both the community groups we serve and our interns,” she said.
“The interns rotate through these clinics during their fifth and final year, working under the supervision of qualified chiropractors. Starting with a thorough neuromusculoskeletal health history, our final year interns diagnose and treat a variety of presentations, from elderly care to amputees. This hands-on experience accelerates the development of clinical skills while boosting both confidence and competence.
She said the newest partnership was with the Queensland Amputee Association, focusing on unique musculoskeletal challenges faced by the amputees and their families.
“Many of these individuals feel underserved in terms of pain management and daily dysfunction. Our interns provided much-needed relief while working through the complexity and unique presentation of each case.
“Most recently in an effort to improve patient outcomes, the Chiropractic team alongside Occupational therapy, and Physical therapy had an elaborate multidisciplinary complex case discussion with our final year interns.”
At the aged care facility in Mitchelton interns have provided careful, ongoing care to elderly residents in an assisted living facility. They regularly monitor health markers such as blood pressure and circulatory function, alerting other healthcare providers as needed.
Additionally, the students run a falls prevention program, designed to reduce the risk of injury in seniors. This program, fully created and delivered by interns, serves participants aged 60 to 101. They host unique competitions and the program changes regularly to increase engagement and participation in the activities. The activities are structured to improve activities of daily living and while improving quality of life.
The clinic for the Indigenous community in Logan has also been well received.
Another clinic serves a predominantly Indian community, many of whom have limited English proficiency. This setting is in a spiritual setting, where there is a soup kitchen for the community and it allows students to refine their communication skills and cultural awareness, while connecting with the community in a unique setting.
“Across all the outreaches we find that patients are grateful for the high-quality care they receive, while praising the professionalism and abilities of our interns,” Ms Bourne said.
